The Pack
by WritingKoi
Summary: Kiba's Life Journey.


I do not own Naruto – Masashi Kishimoto does. I just enjoy playing in his world.

Reviews are always appreciated!

**The Pack**

Kiba had grown up in a family that blurred the lines between wolves and people. Although, wolves and humans had been partners from their beginnings, so it was only natural for them to be together. In fact, wolf companionship had allowed humans beat out the Neanderthals in ancient times. Furthermore, primitive human societies were based on the relationships seen in wolf packs. Normal humans often forget about this fact, which constantly irritated the Inuzuka Clan. Because of his family's preoccupation with wolves, he was practically raised by canids and understood a wolf mentality best. In a pack, everyone has their rightful place in the pack hierarchy and everyone works towards the good of the pack. The pack is everything, the whole world. The Ones, the strongest and cleverest, lead each pack and ensure that everyone is putting their skills to the best use. They ensure everyone's survival. Although, most young adult members will break from their familial pack and live alone for awhile in order to find a mate and start their own pack at some point.

Humans, he was told, only do things for the good of the individual. At first, this was one of the reasons why he found being around them so difficult. It was true some humans were very selfish, but most were only selfish occasionally. Most of his peers were dedicated to their families and their village. At first, he did not really think that he belonged to the village. He myopically thought that he belonged solely to his pack. He avoided humans because human society confused him and humans often seemed irrational. Much later, he discovered the incredibly complicated relationships and social structures that governed human behavior. In fact, he had become one of the best in his familial pack at interacting with humans. If he looked hard enough, he could still see echoes of wolf culture in human society.

When he was in the ninja academy, he didn't have to interact much with the others in his class. He often kept to himself and observed them all, so that he could learn social customs. He wanted to be able to fit in better, when he chose. He didn't really need anyone else in the beginning, since he had Akamaru. Only occasionally did he ever feel left out, mostly at recess and lunch times. Nevertheless, when he became a gennin, they told him he was going to have to form a team with two of the others and a jounin. Unfortunately, he only knew the others mostly by the reputation of their pack and only a little by actual personal experience. He was scared. The last time he had reached out to a regular human child, it hadn't ended well for him. Moreover, he knew nothing about this new leader, what they would like or expect of him. He tried to console himself with the notion that, at least, it was a good way to put his observations into practice.

He staked out the meeting place the day before. It was a big meadow in the middle of the forest just a couple hundred yards in from the river. The next day, he made sure to get there well before the designated time. He and Akamaru hid in a perfectly located juniper bush, just outside the meadow. He saw them arrive. Hinata Hyuuga arrived a half an hour early and waited next to a nearby tree. Her stance was determined, but he could see apprehension in her eyes and smell her fear. She was scared too? Right on time, Shino Aburame arrived. No bugs in sight. His glasses obscured his expression, but his stance looked nervous. He had an odd smell. At least they were all in the same hunt. Where was their teacher? Right on time, there was a flurry of flower petals and she appeared out of nowhere in the center of the meadow. He had not sensed her approach at all by either smell or sound. She was completely confident in her strength, clearly a leader, a One, of her pack. "Gather. All of you," she said, pointedly looking at the two of them. Oops.

He thought getting used to humans was going to be as hard as everyone in the family said. Yet, his new human pack was surprisingly easy to fit into, since its members seemed to be of similar mentalities. Shino was easier to get along with than most humans were, since he thought with a hive mentality. It was still odd at times, but bearable. Hinata understood doing things for the good of the clan. It was probably as close as a human could get to a pack mentality. Kurenai-sensei was their One and, while he did not always understand her ways of thinking, she always did things with their best interests in mind. She was powerful and he trusted her to guide and protect them. As time went on, he discovered that he began to think of them as another pack to which he belonged. Kurenai-sensai was the One of his new pack, but she often tried to get them to think for themselves and not just blindly follow her. He appreciated not being treated like a complete child. Back then, he didn't understand that he could belong to more than one pack at a time. He was just beginning to learn that he was human in many ways.

When he was first assigned to go on missions with people other than his second pack, he was caught a bit off guard. He thought that he could not deal with the menagerie of ninja occupying Konohagakure by himself. Although, he was glad the hunting groups for missions were only temporary. He was scared of being alone with normal humans and he was angry at his packmates for not being upset as well. He did not think he could handle missions where he had to trust strangers, rivals. However, in his interactions with Naruto and other gennins, his understanding of human society and himself began to grow. He began to think of everyone in Konoha as belonging to the same pack. While they did not share as strong of bonds as his familial and gennin packs, they all still worked together for the good of everyone in the village. The Hokage, Tsunade, was their One. It also helped him understand human behavior, since now he understood that they had multiple packs with different levels of pack ties.

Upon successfully passing the chuunin exam, their pack was dissolved. They were no longer designated Team 8. For awhile, he despaired. His world was shattered. What would he do now? He felt lost. However, to his surprise, he found that no one needed the people in charge to tell them to whom they belonged. Everyone still maintained their pack ties. In some ways, it made him feel even more connected to the people of Konoha. With this knowledge, he began to grow up and find his place in the Konoha pack.

After striking out on his own, he'd found himself evaluating the females in his life for the possibility of mating. He knew that, as a shinobi, he was likely to have a lifespan about the same as Akamaru, who was a long-lived species of wolf (with around a 30 year life span). He admired Hinata, because of her kindness, her abilities, and her dedication to her familial pack. But it was impossible to choose her as a mate, because they were from the same group. Everyone knows you don't choose a mate within your own pack, because only the Ones breed. Plus, her familial pack would never let her mate with him. It was bit frustrating that he had to look elsewhere, since he didn't know the other packs as well as he did his own. Alas, his restlessness and yearnings for a pack of his own would not just go away. Who would make him a good mate?

He was pondering that very question in a tree one day, when he was inadvertently involved in Sakura's training with Tsunade. They were tearing up the forest with their enormous strength. He was shocked. He had never though of Sakura as particularly strong. When they were done, he was simply amazed when she healed her scratches and bruises with her chakra before going back to work at the hospital. He was floored –when had she gotten so tough? Another time, on a weekend, he and Akamaru had passed by a clearing and had seen her practicing genjutsu with Kurenai-sensei. She was remarkable. He really admired her determination to get stronger in order to make her pack whole again. When he listened to the people in town, he discovered that everyone had noticed her growing repertoire of abilities. She had the respect and admiration of everyone in Konhagakure.

The event that had turned his admiration to love was much later. He had brought Akamaru in to the hospital to be treated for injuries sustained in their latest mission. The reception staff refused to admit him because he was a wolf, not a human. In his haste, he had temporarily forgotten that other people considered Akamaru less than human. He was frantic. Sakura happened to be walking by and, when she saw what happened, snapped that she'd heal Akamaru in one of the treatment rooms. She shot them a look that did not allow for argument. He was so relieved. Otherwise, he would have tucked his proverbial tail between his legs and begged his sister to treat him. Sakura asked him to place Akamaru on one of her treatment tables and swiftly looked over his whole body. Then, astonishingly, she talked to Akamaru like he was human. In low tones, respectful of his acute hearing, she told him what she was going to do and apologized for any discomfort. She asked Akamaru if he could try to hold still instead of asking Kiba to restrain him. Truthfully, he only heard her because of his enhanced hearing. Promptly, she healed all of his injuries and Akamaru looked to be in perfect health. He relaxed. Sakura looked up and told him in normal tones that he needed to make sure Akamaru got plenty of water and raw red meat tonight to help with the healing process. His heart beat loudly in his chest. They were both now under her orders to rest for at least 24 hours. Akamaru sat up and licked Sakura's face in thanks. She scratched behind his ears. "No problem." She said, in recognition. As they exited, Akamaru flashed him an approving look. He must have heard Kiba's increased heart rate when Sakura was talking to him. He fell in love with Sakura that day.

Since then, he had used his free time to follow her activities. He was continually impressed by everything she did to help everyone in the Konoha pack. Oh, he knew she was in love with Sasuke or maybe Naruto (he had a hard time telling). Romantic relationships still escaped his understanding sometimes. Sasuke had never really paid attention to her. He only looked at her usefulness and only saw who she had been, not who she had become. Naruto would be more of a problem, since he spent so much time with her and shared her focus on returning Sasuke to the pack. Neither of them could believe that lone wolves sometimes choose to walk the harder path. He would not be coming back. Although, he didn't think either Naruto or Sasuke would ever truly appreciate how much she'd grown both in her ninja skills and as a person. Naruto was his biggest problem since he also seemed to love Sakura. She refused Naruto's advances now, but how long would that last? It may become necessary to fight him for mating rights in the future. Recently, he had learned that in human society this does not mean actual fighting to demonstrate one's strength and abilities. It was much more complicated, since it meant that he would have to learn how to monopolize her attention and engender her feelings.

Sometimes, in her sorrow about her former pack mate, she would drink too much. At first, he just sent Akamaru to lead her back to her apartment, but now he would help her home himself. In that state, he knew she would probably mate with him, but she would probably regret later and he definitely didn't want that. He wanted her to be his mate for life. He would bide his time. He would be a good friend until her heart was open once more. He knew that someday, influenced by his determination and devotion, she would choose him.

Our pack lives on.


End file.
